Snorkeling Better In St Thomas or St Maarten?

[agreenlaw49]

Hi Everyone!

 

My hubby and I are going on our first cruise in February, and one thing we really want to try is snorkeling. We have stops in both St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Is one better than the other for snorkeling, or are both about the same?

 

Thanks!

Amarea & Peter

[tjschwalm]

Amarea & Peter,

I have never heard of or seen (I've tried from shore in Le Gallion ) great snorkeling in St Maarten but we are gonna try it again in Feb with Capt Alan .

 

I have had good snorkeling everywhere I've tried in St Thomas or St Johns .

If your just gonna try it I would go to Sapphire Beach or Secret Harbor where you can just walk in and snorkel right off the beach without making a huge financial commitment , just rent equipment there rather than buy before you know it's for you . Warning you will get hooked ! lol Good Luck ! Ted

[blue_water]

Snorkeling in St Martin is good, look at the Golden Eagle day sail, one of the best.

 

Snorkeling in St Thomas is also good at Coki and Sapphire beaches, or you can take a day sail or ferry to St John and snorkel there. Cats will pick you up at your ship or you can ferry from CA or Red Hook.

 

STT is famous for duty-free shopping of course, and SXM also has good shopping. Some neat history on STT as well. What else are you looking for on each island? That will help determine the best choices on each island. But I would highly recommend the Golden Eagle, we returned to SXM for a week so we could take their full-day sail!

 

Enjoy your time in the islands!

[johneeo]

Hi Everyone!

 

My hubby and I are going on our first cruise in February, and one thing we really want to try is snorkeling. We have stops in both St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Is one better than the other for snorkeling, or are both about the same?

 

Thanks!

Amarea & Peter

 

If take a snorkeling excursion on a catamaran or sailboat, you will have a good excursion.

 

Most recently did the Fury in St. Thomas. Many years ago, did Golden Eagle in St. Martin.

 

Both were great.

[agreenlaw49]

Thanks for the suggestions! There's so much I want to do at each island, I'm having a hard time deciding! I've never been further south than Florida, so everything sounds fun to me - shopping, hikes, tours, etc. I think on whichever day we don't snorkel, we'll be doing a beach day with a shopping drop-off. I'm sure there's lots of shopping close to the ports, too?

[blue_water]

I would recommend a beach/shopping day on STT. Head down to Charlotte Amalie early and shop, then taxi to Sapphire Beach on the East End. You'll find many opinions on STT beaches but our favorites are Coki (when there aren't many ships in port because it's smaller) and Sapphire which can handle more people. Both have beautiful sand, water, and Sapphire has a great view of St John and Tortola. Food and drink are available, either at the small Banana Cabana grill (burger, mahi mahi), beach runners taking pizza orders, or a restaurant behind the marina. People have complained about the restrooms at the beach because the resort restaurant is currently closed, but it's not that bad. Some folks come to the islands and expect a walmart bathroom - geesh!

 

If you have time left head back to Red Hook, a 3 minute drive from Sapphire, or even better head back to Paradise Point which overlooks the harbor. Beautiful view great drinks (Bailey's Bushwacker) and fun spot, and you can take the tram back down and walk back to the ship if you're docked in Havensight.

 

Then you can do a little sightseeing in St Marteen and take the Golden Eagle!

 

Enjoy?

Edited October 20, 2011 by blue_water
typo

[hockeyboy]

There is no great snorkeling in St. Maarten. There are great beaches and great shopping. Someone recommended Sapphire Beach or Secret Harbor in St Thomas. Both are very good.

 

Mike

[Karysa]

The only great snorkeling in St. Martin is at Creole Rock and you must go there by boat. In St. Thomas we went on an excursion to Buck Island and snorkeled. We saw a stingray and lots of seaturtles. From shore Coki is great for beginners and Sapphire is great for pretty much anyone.

[blue_water]

For snorkeling STT, off the beach at Sapphire and Coki is great, turtles and rays are often spotted in the seagrass at Sapphire and the reef is great. For snorkeling SXM you take a day sail (or 1/2 day sail for cruise ship folks). The Golden Eagle is an excellent choice. You will enjoy the snorkeling at Creole Rock then a great lunch while you cruise the coast.

So snorkel both Sapphire and the GE!

 

But head for the BVI next trip for the best snorkeling.

Edited October 22, 2011 by blue_water

[Karysa]

For snorkeling STT, off the beach at Sapphire and Coki is great, turtles and rays are often spotted in the seagrass at Sapphire and the reef is great. For snorkeling SXM you take a day sail (or 1/2 day sail for cruise ship folks). The Golden Eagle is an excellent choice. You will enjoy the snorkeling at Creole Rock then a great lunch while you cruise the coast.

So snorkel both Sapphire and the GE!

 

But head for the BVI next trip for the best snorkeling.

 

I don't think that the Golden Eagle goes to Creole Rock anymore. They stop for lunch at a beach bar/restaurant in view of creole rock but it looks like they snorkel at beaches now.

Edited October 22, 2011 by Karysa

[blue_water]

I don't think that the Golden Eagle goes to Creole Rock anymore. They stop for lunch at a beach bar/restaurant in view of creole rock but it looks like they snorkel at beaches

 

We went to Creole on the Fri full day, I can't remember the 1/2 day. But the snorkel stop is the main point. Someone also said they no longer go to Tintamarre but that was challenged so I guess we'll need to e-mail them for clarification.

 

But we still consider them the best. We did a TTOL meet & greet amd several people signed up with us and we had a blast on the Fri sail. Great crew and organization.

[Karysa]

I don't think that the Golden Eagle goes to Creole Rock anymore. They stop for lunch at a beach bar/restaurant in view of creole rock but it looks like they snorkel at beaches

 

We went to Creole on the Fri full day, I can't remember the 1/2 day. But the snorkel stop is the main point. Someone also said they no longer go to Tintamarre but that was challenged so I guess we'll need to e-mail them for clarification.

 

But we still consider them the best. We did a TTOL meet & greet amd several people signed up with us and we had a blast on the Fri sail. Great crew and organization.

 

I was interested in going back to snorkel at Creole Rock and DH wanted to do another Catamaran sail so I looked at the Golden Eagle website and I can't seem to find anything that says that they stop at Creole Rock anymore. I have snorkeled while on a few boat excursions in St. Martin and none of the spots, including Tintamare come even close to the snorkeling that I did at Creole Rock and quite frankly they were actually quite disappointing to me. I saw more interesting fish by the rocks at the Grand Case Beach Club then I have at any of the other places other than Creole Rock.

[blue_water]

You should contact them with any inquiries, they have a request form on their site -

sailingsxm.com/golden.htm

 

Email -

boatcharter@caribserve.net

 

Phone #'s are also listed on their site.

 

There you go, should be easy for you!!!:rolleyes:

[Karysa]

You should contact them with any inquiries, they have a request form on their site -

sailingsxm.com/golden.htm

 

Email -

boatcharter@caribserve.net

 

Phone #'s are also listed on their site.

 

There you go, should be easy for you!!!:rolleyes:

 

Since Creole Rock has been designated a nature reserve not many companies are allowed to go there anymore. I think that any company that was still allowed to take tours to Creole Rock would make that known on their website. If you know the owner you might want to drop him a line and tell him that advertising that he is one of a select few that has a permit to take tours out to the rock would really be to his advantage.

 

Regarding Tintamare island in St. Martin. We only saw a few fish when we snorkeled there in March of 2010. The beach is lovely and some tours still visit it but many companies used to go to Tintamare for the mud baths which has been discontinued from what I have read and heard.

[blue_water]

Yes, the mud bath or exfoliation is very popular with private cats as well, you would see couples walking the beach who were Fully exfoliated. That wasn't always pretty!

 

You can get good ideas on this site and on TA, however you always want to contact the different vendors directly as itineraries change frequently for a variety of reasons - just good practice.

[Karysa]

Yes, the mud bath or exfoliation is very popular with private cats as well, you would see couples walking the beach who were Fully exfoliated. That wasn't always pretty!

 

You can get good ideas on this site and on TA, however you always want to contact the different vendors directly as itineraries change frequently for a variety of reasons - just good practice.

 

You are correct. I use the sites that you mentioned and the companies website as well and ween down the places that I would like to contact by doing this. I still think in this day and age the best way for a company to get it's latest information out to the general public is by putting it on their website though. If I don't see the site or the activity that I want to do mentioned on their website I just don't bother to get in touch with them.

[kcparrothead]

I was looking around for snorkel trips in St. Martin also. I found this yesterday - Captain Alan says he goes to Creole Rock or Anse Marcel Reef. They also advertise the mud bath. Looks like you can book it either through his site or Island Marketing. I was wondering which way would be better - they are the same price...

 

http://www.captainalan.com/challenge/index.htm

[blue_water]

kc, I would go with his site unless he recommends otherwise (just to eliminate any middlemen and the potential for additional errors). But often there is a requirement to go through the company that promotes the trip.

 

Karysa understood and I agree that it's good business practice to keep your advertising current. My point is simply that I will contact them directly to get the latest info because we are talking the islands, and web sites there are not always as updated as we'd like. We happen to have enjoyed our experience with GE very much, and I will always try to get them first because of the great times we've had with them. If I were just researching these options for the first time I would still e-mail them (and the others) requesting their itineraries - that's just me.:rolleyes:

[Karysa]

I was looking around for snorkel trips in St. Martin also. I found this yesterday - Captain Alan says he goes to Creole Rock or Anse Marcel Reef. They also advertise the mud bath. Looks like you can book it either through his site or Island Marketing. I was wondering which way would be better - they are the same price...

 

http://www.captainalan.com/challenge/index.htm

 

Tintamare island is where the mudbath place was that is not permitted anymore. On the Captain Alan site they mention Pinel Island and say "our special mud bath" or something along that line. I have heard that some excursion companies have started importing their own mud since the Tintamare Mudbaths are prohibited now. If you do go to the Anse Marcel Reef to snorkel please go to the St. Martin board and let us know how it was. I would check the fine print on the Captain Alan site and compare it to the Island Marketing site and see if one or both of them include transportation to and from the boat if it is required.

[mitsugirly]

Loved snorkeling at Sapphire Beach in St Thomas.

 

My review and pictures: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26210037&postcount=1

 

It was our favorite port of the cruise. :)

[tjschwalm]

Karysa ,

Going with Capt Alan in Feb . His emails were very proffesional and top notch ,

if they weren't I was gonna try from the shore again . I'll be sure to review

somehow to let yall know on the St Martaan thread . Ted

[Karysa]

Karysa ,

Going with Capt Alan in Feb . His emails were very proffesional and top notch ,

if they weren't I was gonna try from the shore again . I'll be sure to review

somehow to let yall know on the St Martaan thread . Ted

 

I have read many good reviews on Captain Alan over the years I think that it is a safe bet.:) I have never found the snorkeling from the shore all that great in St. Martin. Sapphire beach has got much better beach snorkeling from shore than anywhere that I have tried in St. Martin. I am very interested in hearing about your trip with Captain Alan, have fun.

Edited October 31, 2011 by Karysa

[zqvol]

Great snorkeling at Pinel Island off St. Martin.

[dallas59]

Myself and my son and granddaughter(age 7) went snorkling at Buck Island with the RCCL excursion on the bimini breeze power cat. We saw turtles, a stringray and a bunch of fish. We all had a great time then went to relax on a secluded beach.

[tuesday10]

Loved snorkeling at Sapphire Beach in St Thomas.

 

My review and pictures: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=26210037&postcount=1

 

It was our favorite port of the cruise. :)

 

Loved your photos of Sapphire Beach.